A few Northwest Arkansas drivers ventured out Sunday onto roads in Rogers and Bentonville, but most people stayed home, city and county officials said.
“The roads are still slick,” said Marshal Watson, Benton County public safety administrator. “If people don’t have to get on the road, they should stay home.”
On Sunday morning, a few vehicles crept slowly along roads packed with snow and ice.
In the county, no roads were closed, no major power outages were reported and the number of accidents stayed low, Watson said. Three accidents were reported in Rogers and four in Bentonville, according to police incident reports.
County roads also remained mostly accident-free, deputy Keshia Guyll said.
“We haven’t had any major accidents or anything, just a few cars in ditches, no injuries,” she said.
AT A GLANCE
School Closings Today
Bentonville School District
Elkins School District
Fayetteville Public School District
Gentry School District
Northwest Technical Institute, Springdale
Pea Ridge School District
Rogers Public School District
Springdale School District
St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School
University Of Arkansas
Classes, offices and services at the University of Arkansas will be closed today due to inclement weather conditions. A decision will be made late today about Tuesday classes.
NWACC Opening Late
Northwest Arkansas Community College will open at noon today except for the Farmington campus. All finals scheduled this morning, before noon, will be moved to Friday morning.
Source: Staff Report
Interstate 540 was ice and snow covered Sunday afternoon from just south of Fayetteville to the Missouri border, according to the state Highway and Transportation Department. Sections of the northbound interstate had several inches of snow and ice in the left lane.
Trace amounts of freezing drizzle and fog, along with light snow, rolled in Saturday night but had mostly stopped by Sunday afternoon, according to a National Weather Service update Sunday. Northwest Arkansans can expect continued cold weather into the early part of this week, and another chance for light snow Monday evening.
Roads seemed better in Fayetteville and Springdale, but traveling still wasn’t easy Sunday, officials there said.
“It’s hard to get around,” said Springdale firefighter Jason Cooley. “It’s taking a little bit longer to get to places.”
Parking lots, porches and sidewalks remain slick, and some residents have fallen, Rogers Fire Chief Tom Jenkins said.
The Rogers Fire Department responded to several injuries of people who fell while trying to check the mail or take out the trash, he said.
No serious accidents from the weather were reported in Springdale or Fayetteville by Sunday afternoon, according to firefighters and the Fayetteville online police report database. The dispatch reports showed only about four accidents in Fayetteville for Sunday.
Firefighters advised drivers that must be on roadways to go slowly and leave room between vehicles.
“People who are out driving — be very, very careful and slow down,” Cooley said.